The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1887-07-21

The Southern planter, says the
writer, did his work well. He had 4
hard and what would seem to have
been an almost impossible task. He
was brought into contact with race
| who in their own country and in their
native condition were all sayages with
scarcely a redeeming virtue. Out OF
such material he made men who be-
came doCile, industrious, kind and
| faithful; whose work reduced a vast
wilderness to a state of cultivation.
| The influence, control and teachings
that did this must have been judicous
and prudent; no other course of CON
duct could have accomplished SO much.
More than twenty years have passed,
writes Mr.. Johnston, since the negro
was made free, and that period affords
us some means ofjudging the effect on
both races. This he rightly says is a
momentous, a vital matter to the
American people, and one that it be-
hooves them to look into closely.
The question is repeatedly asked
why, if the South has such vast mineral
wealth as is now claimed, was SO little
done to develop it prior to the war ?
Why did the Southern people with I'll
this wealth beneath their feet leave it
comparatively untouched? To these
questions Mr.. Johnston gives an an
swer, the correctness of which cannot
be questioned.
TO compare the work of the white
man of the South with that of the
negro, Mr.. Johnston presents some
very striking statistics as to the main
agricultural products of the Southern
States, such as tobacco, cotton, rice
and sugar, prior to the war and at the
present time. He says.
" 1t will offer further on what con-
slider the prior explanation of this
seemingly anomalous result Of a de
cline in a number of industries to
which the soil and climate of the South
are suited and a marvellous growth in
others, and in the meantime will pre-
sent the reader with some account of
industry, enterprise and energy and
their results more agreeable than the
picture of the decline heretofore drawn.
1t can no longer be said, even by
the enemies of the Southern white
nun, that he is not at least making
good use of the bounties which nature
has bestowed upon his country, for
there is scarcely anything in the way
of natural resource or of an industry
suitable or practicable that is not rec
ognized and developed or put in the
process of development. From rail-
roads, mines, manufactures, commerce
and education down to trucking and
the growth of small fruits, everything
is active. Materials once thrown
away are husbanded and made profit
able, and it is not extravagant to say
that no five years in the history of any
people, ancient or modern, exceeds in
material advancement the past five
years in the South, Notwithstanding
the decline already noted"
He then points out few facts in
this marvellous growth, showing that
in 1880 the South had $50 cotton
mills, while it now has 353. In 1880
there were 34,562 manufactures in
the South, producing s315,924,794,
against 5I,419 now, producing $685.,
S92, 900. In 1880 the South mined
6,ooo,ooo tons of coal and. in 1886
over 100000, while during the
same period 5000, ,ooo,o have been
spent in building new railroads ard
improving old ones, the present mile
age in the Southern States being 49,
767 miles, against 2o,642 in 1850.
A nice two story brick dwelling for rent
Apply to,
iuly Z SO JOHN Il. WATKINS.